Here & Now

Farmers Struggle In America’s Dairyland

Frederica Freyberg:

Now to agricultural news and challenges facing farmers in the western part of the state. In tonight’s closer look, low crop and milk prices are taking a toll that’s both economic and emotional for state’s farmers. “Here and Now” contributor Andy Soth reports on how one small southwestern Wisconsin community is responding, led by an owner of the local feed mill.

[high school band music]

Andy Soth:

In Seneca in Crawford County, in the state’s southwest corner, the talk of the town has been the basketball team’s conference-winning season. It’s what they’re talking about mornings at Olson's Feed Service on Highway 27.

Man:

We couldn’t shake them. We only beat them by ten.

Tammy Olson:

Sometimes I joke that we’re the feed mill, but sometimes we’re the rumor mill or the conversation mill.

Andy Soth:

Seneca’s success on the court has been a welcome distraction. Talk of tariffs and potential trade retaliation from foreign importers are weighing on these dairy farmers’ minds.

Man:

We got to get milk out of the country, grain out of the country.

Tammy Olson:

Absolutely.

Andy Soth:

At the feed mill, they’ve seen the economic strain already-low milk prices have put on local producers. Feed is a major production expense. At the mill they make custom mixes of grain products and minerals specific to each herd’s nutritional demands. Then they deliver the product directly to the farm, where it’s rationed to the cows.

Chris Olson:

What I try to do is just try to match the best ingredients, the most cost effective ingredients for the animals to make them the most profitable.

Andy Soth:

Requests for those more economic solutions have gone up.

Tammy Olson:

They’ll try to come up with something that might be a little less expensive or maybe you don’t have to feed quite so much of something.

Andy Soth:

But for Tammy Olson, the real barometer of hard times has been the mood of her customers.

Tammy Olson:

Want a donut?

Man:

Sure.

Tammy Olson:

Normally we have very upbeat, happy people that walk through here and we’re always laughing and joking around. And it just hasn’t been that way. I’m like, “How are you doing today?” And I kept getting the same answer. “Well, why are we doing this? Who in their right mind works in an industry where not only are you not making money, but it’s almost as if you’re paying to work in this industry.” It’s been very sad, very “What am I going to do?” They’re frustrated. They’re distressed. It’s despair.

Andy Soth:

Despair she recognized when reading online about a rise in suicides among farmers.

Tammy Olson:

And I found that to be very disturbing and heartbreaking. And then I found out that western Wisconsin led the nation in bankruptcies in 2017.

Andy Soth:

Farm or so-called Chapter 12 bankruptcies have increased steadily in the U.S. bankruptcy courts western Wisconsin district, doubling from 2014 to last year.

Tammy Olson:

And I'm like how could I be proud of that statistic? I’m proud of the fact that I'm from Wisconsin and that I participate in our dairy production and the real seal and I can’t be proud of this.

Andy Soth:

On the feed mill’s Facebook page, where Olson had been posting updates on her recent bear sightings, she started sharing the hard news. But she knew she had to do more than post about the problems.

Tammy Olson:

And uncharacteristically I reached out and I made some phone calls and sent some emails to my state representatives, and much to my surprise and much to my happiness, they sent me their schedules, and we found the date of March 16 and we are now having our own town hall-type meeting.

Andy Soth:

The event won’t just be elected officials. Government agencies and industry will be represented. And perhaps most importantly for those feeling despair, information on how to get help.

Tammy Olson:

These programs are out there. And I think it’s important people know that and realize that they’re available to you and use them. There’s no shame. Nobody’s going to turn their back on you.

Frederica Freyberg:

That report was supported by the O'Brien Fellowship in Public Service Journalism at Marquette University, where Andy Soth is a fellow this year. Now joining us by phone is Tammy Olson, fresh from the meeting she organized in Seneca that took place earlier today. Tammy, thank you so much for being here.

Tammy Olson:

Oh, thank you for inviting me. I appreciate it.

Frederica Freyberg:

So how did the town hall go?

Tammy Olson:

Very much as expected. We had 110 chairs and they were full and I would say there were probably at least another 80 people plus standing. It was overwhelming, the support that we received. And for a brief moment I was worried that nobody was going to speak. And that worry was unfounded. We had wonderful conversations, emotional conversation. And I think that most people were able to get their questions answered. If not answered, we led them in a direction that they can follow up. Everybody got contact information that they need.

Frederica Freyberg:

How hard is it for farmers to, quote, kind of get involved in something like this?

Tammy Olson:

I think that once it was organized, they were very happy to have a forum. They’re busy people. There’s nobody harder working than a farmer, whether it be beef, grain, dairy. They don’t have time to organize what I tried to organize for them. And they were certainly appreciative of it and they showed up in full force with their voices. And I was glad they did.

Frederica Freyberg:

Was it a relief for farmers to have the ear of policymakers today?

Tammy Olson:

I'm not sure if it was a relief, because, you know, there’s no quick answer to this. And they knew that coming in. And I think when they realized this is their forum to tell them what they need, then there was a little bit of a, okay, yes, let’s do that. And I was very impressed. I’m the first one to jump on the farmer bandwagon. There is no dumb farmer. That is a stereotype that makes me very angry. They are very hard-working but they’re also very intelligent. People in our industry have to be their own mechanics. They have to be their own–sometimes they have to be their own doctors. And they’re not used to having a forum like this but they rose to the occasion. I’m very proud of all of them.

Frederica Freyberg:

So what was the overriding message that was being sent there today?

Tammy Olson:

The overriding message I heard was that our officials are not doing anything for us and what are you going to do now that you heard us. What are you going to do? And we are going to keep asking you this question. We now know how to get ahold of you. We are going to do that. And I hope they do.

Frederica Freyberg:

So were the people there, the policymakers, the lawmakers, the agency people, were they receptive to this message? And do you get the sense that there will be some kind of actual relief forthcoming?

Tammy Olson:

Not only were they receptive, I think they were very gracious. They understood that the emotions did get high. There were some moments when we had to take the pot off to avoid the boil and try to back it down a little bit. And it was Jennifer Shilling, I have to give her all kinds of props because I thought she did an amazing job at bringing that pot back to a simmer and maybe give a little bit of hope that tell me what you need. I do talk to these people daily. I am the one that can get your message across. Unfortunately it’s not going to be Monday morning. It’s going to be when the Farm Bill is introduced and discussed.

Frederica Freyberg:

All right. Tammy, we leave it there, but we’d like to keep following you and this issue and the people there. Thanks very much for your time, Tammy Olson.

Tammy Olson:

Thank you.